There’s a lot that goes into being a hockey mom that goes unnoticed. Also on our ever-growing list of duties and responsibilities is planning the hockey fundraiser. Hockey is an expensive sport. Add up the costs.

New equipment

League registration

Ice time

Travel costs

Tournament entry fees

More new equipment

Gatorade (so much Gatorade)

Everything else that gets them to the ice and ready to play come game time

Fundraising is essential, but it can also be a big bummer when you have to plan yet another bottle drive, car wash, or bake sale. It’s time to look for a new type of hockey fundraiser.

To liven up that hockey fundraiser, here are some creative ideas that will renew your passion for raising money for your son or daughter’s hockey team.

Appreciate the Old Guard Hockey Fundraiser

While you might be sick of the more traditional fundraising methods (raffle tickets, car washes, sponsored dances, etc.), they are still important to remember. Even an old dog can learn some new tricks.

In other words, if you’re sick of putting together the same annual car wash every year, don’t be afraid to jazz it up creatively. For example, you could hold a pizza-only bake sale or transform that monthly bingo fundraiser into a one-time, full-blown casino night.

Your old fundraisers are the best place to get ideas for creating new ones.

Pallet of Beer Raffle

Selling raffle tickets is a member of the ‘Old Guard’ of fundraising. But, some groups have brought it to the next level with the only thing on the planet that could make raffle tickets more exciting than they already are — beer!

Instead of raffling off a big gift card to Applebees or Chilis, (which is spent almost entirely on drinks anyways and maybe a shared lava cake) skip the middleman and give the people what they want with a pallet of beer.

By the numbers, a pallet of beer is 52 cases or 1,560 cans of beer. That’s a lot of sauce. It’s a lot more sauce than any one person can drink, which means they are bound to share.

Even the losers are winners with this one.

Yard Invasions

You have to be careful how you approach this one. You need the right type of good-humored community. But, it can be a ton of fun and very lucrative.

Yard invasions work by sneaking into people’s yards at night and overloading them with all things hideous from the garden section of Home Depot: gnomes, plastic flamingos, a plastic Santa or two, etc.

Then, attach a note to the victim’s door telling them they’ve been invaded and that, for a fee, your team will come back and clean up their yard. And, for an additional fee, they’ll move the terrible lawn ornaments to the yard of that person’s choice.

Again, you have to be careful with this one and choose your targets carefully.

Hockey Box Subscriptions

Box subscriptions present a relatively new fundraising opportunity. You’ve probably seen these advertised, in forms like The Dollar Shave Club, BarkBox, Graze, BirchBox and the like. They exist for hockey players and fans too.

By selling these subscriptions, you can earn a little money towards your team. The beauty of this fundraising opportunity is you are offering something that your hockey community will find valuable and relevant, unlike magazine subscriptions or coupon booklets.

You can even bring it a step further and make your own hockey subscription boxes.

Chuck a Puck a Classic Hockey Fundraiser

This is a standard hockey fundraiser in the hockey community. But, it’s still one that should make any list about hockey team fundraising. At a hockey game, you set up a table where people can purchase a puck. Sometime between periods, you have these individuals “chuck” their puck onto the ice, aiming for the center. The closest person to center ice wins a prize (maybe a free month of your hockey box!).

You can sell the pucks for a few dollars and earn a nice bit of dough during each of your games.

Make sure you have people write their name on their puck before they chuck it!

Variety Show

This used to be a proud member of the Old Guard of fundraising techniques. But, it is one that has seemed to have fallen out of fashion. If you need a refresher as to what a variety show looks like, it’s part talent show, part singing/comedy/acting routine, and part make-it-up-as-we-go-along.

Pretty much any kind of talent or routine fits into a variety show, and you can use it to highlight the other, non-hockey skills of your young player and his or her teammates. You can earn money by selling tickets to the show.

Alternatively, you can hold it in a public space in town and merely ask for donations.

You’ll be surprised at what sort of variety acts come out of the team.

Conclusions

Fundraising isn’t easy, and it is incredibly time-consuming. Worst of all, the demoralizing effect that a lousy, unprofitable fundraiser can have is devastating. These unique, creative fundraising ideas are designed to rejuvenate your passion for raising money for your son or daughter’s hockey team.

It’s important always to be thinking of new ways and fresh angles to rehash old fundraising tactics.

And most of all, don’t be afraid to get weird with it. The originators of the Yard Invasion and Beer Pallet Raffle fundraising ideas were probably met with quite a few blank stares. But, these ideas are just as capable, maybe even more so, as the traditional bake sale or car wash fundraisers.

About the author

Emily Erson

I am a full-time teacher, mother, driver of children, cooker of dinner, washer of laundry, sayer of whatever is on my mind and hockey mom extraordinaire. In my free time --like that exists--I blog in order to vent the frustration that comes with raising 3 kids. My mantra, blogging and ranting are better than a drinking problem.

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About the Author

Emily Erson

I am a full-time teacher, mother, driver of children, cooker of dinner, washer of laundry, sayer of whatever is on my mind and hockey mom extraordinaire. In my free time --like that exists--I blog in order to vent the frustration that comes with raising 3 kids. My mantra, blogging and ranting are better than a drinking problem.